


Looking

by midwesthorror, mitskiandwhiskey



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 21:20:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17128937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midwesthorror/pseuds/midwesthorror, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitskiandwhiskey/pseuds/mitskiandwhiskey
Summary: Franz Kovács and Jeffrey Stein attend the same university. They can't seem to stop running into each other. Luckily for two budding scientists, both like to experiment.





	Looking

  They passed each other in the library often. The shorter one often roamed the stacks, looking for books on biology, cell structure, massive tomes on the human body. The taller one sat at a desk, in the center of the library, writing papers on theorems in integral calculus, reading collections of poetry by Whitman for the required English courses he despised. More than once, one would glance up from his work only to meet the other's eyes, holding for a moment before diverting his gaze. They both knew looking gets dangerous if you hold on too long. Still, they were just looking, and where's the harm in that?

  The professor was calling roll from the front of the classroom. They sat only a few seats apart, just enough distance to forget they even shared a physics class.  
  “Hegel?” “Here.”  
  “Ingram?” “Here.”  
  “Kovács?” Nothing.  
  “ _Kovács_?” the teacher repeated, scanning the room for his student. Still nothing.  
  Finally, a voice sprang up from a desk on the far left. “Oh, uh, h-hi there!”  
  “Kovács, pay attention. I shouldn't have to call your name twice. Understood?”  
  “Yes, professor.”  
  “Thank you,” the older man grumbled, continuing to take attendance.  
  “Nakamura?” “Here.”  
  “Seville?” “Here.”  
  “Stein?” “Present.”  
  The different response from a turtlenecked student earned a quick glance from the professor. He narrowed his eyes. The student raised an eyebrow. The whole class knew of their little rivalry, played out in these tiny, silent skirmishes. The professor looked back down and quickly read off the rest of the list. The young man had won this time.  
  “Open your books to page 207,” the professor intoned, “today we're going to be talking about liquid densities and how they affect motion.” Kovács immediately lost focus as soon as the lecture began, partially because he couldn't focus on anything but biology most of the time, but also because everything the professor taught was wrong. He just didn't have the heart or self-esteem to correct his antiquated theories. He noticed that Stein grumbled side comments throughout the lecture, and the professor eventually caught on. He shot a deathly glare at the man.  
  “Stein, if you take issue with anything I've said, please, feel free to make your comments to the entire class.” This was just the challenge he needed.  
  “Sir, have you read the most recent literature on splatter theories in fluids denser than water?”  
  “Of course.”  
  “Then you'll know that the concepts you're teaching are at least two years out of date.” Eyes widened. Jaws slackened. The student was snarky, sure, but never this blunt.  
  “Could it be, young man, that in arrogantly skipping ahead in our assigned readings, you've carelessly missed most of the basics? This is our introductory lecture, after all.”  
  “No,” Stein retorted, “since some of these concepts have been patently disproven in several journals published within the last year. It's a disservice to teach your students information that's factually incorrect.” He didn't stay to hear the professor's rebuttal. Kovács watched as his classmate shoved his textbook into his bag, threw his blazer over his shoulder, and stormed out of the lecture hall.

  He caught his glance again in the hall after class. Stein was lazily jotting something down in a small red notebook as Kovács approached.  
  “H-hey,” he mumbled, “I'm Franz. Franz Kovács? From Physics 323? What you did back there was pretty brave. It all needed saying though, his lecture was inaccurate.      You were absolutely right.”  
  Stein looked up, barely meeting Franz's gaze before getting back to his book. “Oh. Yeah,” he remarked, “I know you. I've seen you around.”  
  “Uh,” Franz continued feebly, forcing himself to continue the conversation despite his brain's best efforts to shut him down and make him walk away. “Well, I, uhm, I d-don't think we've ever been properly introduced. W-What's your name?”  
  “Jeffrey,” the taller one shot back, not missing a beat, “and I think we live in the same hall as well. I saw you on the way to the showers once.”  
  “Oh! You're in Garrison too! Ugh, the heating is so erratic in there, you know? It's almost--”  
  “Listen, Franz, I'd love to chat, but I have another class to get to, ok? Bye.”  
  “Oh! Uh, see you!” Franz shouted after him. He was taken aback by how easily Jeffrey seemed to navigate every interchange. He wanted to know how he did it, staying cool and collected everywhere he went. Little did he know what it would take to find out.

**Author's Note:**

> These are just two Mad Scientist ocs that my friend midwesthorror and I came up with that I wanted to insert into the world of Dark Academia™. So here goes this ride.


End file.
